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Patjantja – Bob Gibson

Description

55.9cm x 91.4cm: acrylic on canvas

Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson Tjungarrayi was born at Papaya in 1974, before moving with his family to Tjukurla during the Papunya Tula movement of the 1980s, where many Ngaanyatjarra people moved to be closer to their ancestral homelands. Bob’s mother Mary Gibson, also a leading Tjarlirli artist, is from the country of Kulkurta, his father’s country was near Patjarr.

Bob has been painting with Tjarlirli Art since 2007 and quickly found a unique rhythm and approach to painting; bold colours and an inimitable freedom, expressing ancient stories with contemporary flair. Bob is a vibrant character who is well loved within his community and offers support to many family members. He is a keen Sydney Swans supporter and loves listening to all music, especially the local bush bands.

Looking at a Bob Gibson painting feels a little like spending time with the artist himself. Bob’s bold, playful presence in the studio is contagious; each canvas brings wild shapes and expressive line met with decisive mark-making and confident realisation of country. His highly unique representations of tjukurpa are an intersection of traditional storytelling and a spirited contemporary artistic practice. This work is important as it speaks to the complex layers and tensions between cultural, historical and modern influences.

Patjantja

This work is about two snakes and two men who travelled north to Karrkurinkitja. As the party travelled, some strangers came up behind them and the snakes fled. Then Kurningka (boss of the Tingari men) went looking. The clouds were coming towards them. The snakes were travelling fast and the water was rising, and the lady snake went in the ant’s hole but the other snake was left outside. Kurningka was saying, ‘water is coming closer’ but the other snake was too big for the hole. The Kurningka cut the snake and a lot of fat came out.

The free brush strokes and loose lines evident in this canvas dance around each other displaying the distinctive and compelling liveliness of his work.